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Currently browsing thread: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men Petersen Oct 23, 2009 12:44:20
Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men
Petersen
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Oct 23, 2009 12:44:20 		Pascal #627
Quote:
Vanity is so firmly anchored in man's heart that a soldier, a rough, a cook or a porter will boast and expect admirers, and even philosophers want them; those who write against them want to enjoy the prestige of having written well, those who read want the prestige of having read them, and perhaps I who write this want the same things, perhaps my readers . . .
It turns out this is also true of shut-ins. Age and experience rarely humble men, but rather give them more of which to boast. So also district presidents, musicians, elders, teachers, and well, absolutely everyone else.

But of whom could Pascal's scathing words be more true than of bloggers and blog readers?

The Pascal quote above is from Peter Kreeft's Christianity for Modern Pagans published by Ignatius Press.

Here is another, #77,
Quote:
Curiosity is only vanity. We usually only want to know something so that we can talk about it; in other words, we would never travel by sea if it meant never talking about it, and for the sheer pleasure of seeing things we could never hope to describe to others.
 

Comments...

  • Oct 27, 2009 11:35:59 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - E. Carnoali
    "Curiosity is only vanity" -if it were not for curiosity we would still believe the earth is 6000 years old, flat and at the center of the universe. Drinking water would be unsafe, illness would be thought to be caused by demons, and you would be blogging on papyrus.
    • Oct 27, 2009 15:31:04 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - Z Heide
      Carnoali,

      I could be misinterpreting you, but bare text is prone to so many interpretations.

      You said:

      if it were not for curiosity we would still believe the earth is 6000 years old, flat and at the center of the universe. Drinking water would be unsafe, illness would be thought to be caused by demons, and you would be blogging on papyrus.

      This seems to imply that believing in any one of these things is a lack of curiosity, almost a sort of de facto superstition. Wouldn't it be better to say that people once believed some things, such as spontaneous generation, illness being caused by demons, et cetera, because it was their attempt to explain the phenomenon before them? In other words, it was the best scientific explanation they had at the time, no matter how misguided it may seem to us now?

      How will future generations view us and our quaint beliefs about the world around us? Surely, we cannot be so proud as to think that we have it all figured out in terms of science? Science, after all, rests on observations.
      • Oct 27, 2009 16:06:47 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - E. Carnoali
        I wasn't very clear, my apologies. I meant to say that curiosity should be applauded. Curious minds have given us not only healthier lives (through science) but also unprecedented means of spreading the gospel. For the sake of future generations I hope that this peculiar form of vanity continues.
  • Oct 25, 2009 17:06:30 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - Rev. Thomas C. Messer
    Why do always have to ruin things by pointing us to our sins, Pr. Petersen? I was really just beginning to enjoy blogging! :)
  • Oct 23, 2009 14:24:51 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - Pr. HR Curtis
    Is this a collection of the Pensées or just something that includes some of them? I've got a translation of them around here somewhere and whenever I think to look at them, I'm always glad I did. He was a perceptive fellow and a true Christian.

    +HRC
    • Oct 23, 2009 14:30:42 Re: Vanity: The Common Vice of Fallen Men - Petersen
      It is just "some" of them. But Kreeft claims he has all of it because he only cut repetitions. He also intersperses his own comments in between them, which are often just as good as Pascal. And he rearranges them. They have the numbers but are categorized by topic. Finally, he also gives you a list of the essential Pensées with the idea that you could read just those and get the whole argument without all the subtleties. It is a very nice book. Kreeft's stuff is always good.
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